T h e A r t i o s H o m e C o m p a n i o n S e r i e s Unit 17: The Hundred Years War · 2020. 7....

Medieval to Renaissance: High School Unit 17: The Hundred Years’ War

T h e A r t i o s H o m e C o m p a n i o n S e r i e s

Unit 17: The Hundred Years’ War

T e a c h e r O v e r v i e w

The Hundred Years’ War was a fascinating time in history. It was actually not just a single war, but rather a series of conflicts between England and France. It was full of heroes like Joan of Arc. It was also full of death – because of its many battles, and because of the Black Plague, which first appeared in France in 1347. Throughout this unit, we will learn about the background of the Hundred Years’ War, the war itself, a heroine of the war named Joan of Arc, and what France and England looked like after the war.

Collage of paintings representing battles of the Hundred Years’ War.

Clockwise, from top left: La Rochelle, Agincourt, Patay, Orléans. (By Blaue Max - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46032762)

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Reading and Assignments

In this unit, students will:

Complete three lessons in which they will learn about the Hundred Years’ War and Joan of Arc, and France and England after the Hundred Years’ War, journaling and answering discussion questions as they read.

Define vocabulary words.

Complete a biography notebook page on Joan of Arc.

Visit www.ArtiosHCS.com for additional resources.

Leading Ideas

Godly rulers are a blessing to the people. When one rules justly over men, ruling in the fear of God, he dawns on them like the morning light, like the sun shining forth on a cloudless morning, like rain that makes grass to sprout from the earth.

— 2 Samuel 23:3-4

Seek godly leaders to represent you. Look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And let them judge the people at all times.

— Exodus 18:21-22

God does not always call the equipped, He equips those He calls. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty.

— I Corinthians 1:27

Key People , Places , and Events

Philip VI Edward III The Black Prince The Black Death Battle of Crécy Battle of Poitiers Charles V Bertrand du Guesclin Charles VI King Henry V Joan of Arc, the “Maid of Orléans” Wars of Roses Edward II Louis XI

Vocabulary

Lesson 1: dauphin claimants Lesson 2: none Lesson 3: despotic

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L e s s o n O n e

H i s t o r y O v e r v i e w a n d A s s i g n m e n t s

The Hundred Years’ War

The Hundred Years’ War was fought between France and England. It was a series of conflicts between two of the most powerful nations in Europe. There were four chief causes for the war: (1) The conquest of Philip Augustus of France had left a lingering hostility between two countries, and the rejection of the claims of Edward III of England to the French throne increased the feeling, (2) There was continual friction over the English possession of Guienne, (3) In Scotland the French aided the young king, David Bruce, against the English attempts at conquest, (4) Finally, there was a conflict of interests in Flanders, which led directly to the war.

After over a hundred years of fighting, the war ended quietly and without any formal peace treaty.

Fifteenth century miniature depicting the Battle of Agincourt


Review the discussion questions and vocabulary, then read the article: The Hundred Years’ War.

Narrate about today’s reading using the appropriate notebook page. Be sure to answer the discussion questions and include key people, events, and dates within the narration.

Define each vocabulary word in the context of the reading and put the word and its definition in the vocabulary section of your history notebook.

Be sure to visit www.ArtiosHCS.com for additional resources.

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Philip VI Edward III The Black Prince The Black Death Battle of Crécy Battle of Poitiers Charles V Bertrand du Guesclin Charles VI King Henry V

Vocabulary

dauphin claimants

Joan of Arc, the “Maid of Orléans”

Discussion Questions

1. What were the two main countries involved in The Hundred Years’ War?

2. All wars have many negative effects, but what were some positive effects of The Hundred Years’ War?

3. What were the major causes of the war, according to this article?

4. What were the differences between the French and English armies, and how did that affect their fighting in battle?

5. Who was the Black Prince, and what role did he play in the Battle of Crécy?

6. What was the result of the Battle of Poiters for King John of France?

7. What did King John of France have to agree to upon his release from captivity?

8. Who was Bertrand du Guesclin, and why is he considered to be the best general of the Middle Ages?

9. How did Englishmen use the arts to memorialize what happened at the Battle of Agincourt?

10. What does the author mean by the following statement about Joan of Arc, and how does it compare to a Biblical definition of a Saint?

“Such indeed she was, if a saint was ever made by purity, faith, and noble suffering.”

Adapted for High School from the book:

New Medieval and Modern History by Samuel Bannister Harding

The Hundred Years’ War

Many causes combined to produce the

succession of conflicts between England

and France which we call the Hundred

Years’ War. The conquest of Philip Augustus

had left a lingering hostility between the two

countries, and the rejection of the claims of

Edward III to the French throne increased

the feeling.

There was continual friction over the

English possession of Guienne. In Scotland

the French aided the young king, David

Bruce, against the English attempts at

conquest. Finally, there was a conflict of

interests in Flanders, which led directly to

the war.

Although Flanders was a French fief, the

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prosperity of the Flemish townsmen

depended on the manufacture of cloth,

which they made from English wool. In

1336 the French king, Philip VI, recklessly

caused the arrest of all Englishmen who

were in Flanders. In retaliation, Edward III

seized Flemish merchants in his kingdom,

and forbade the exportation of English

wool. The Flemish burghers thereupon

rebelled, and formed an alliance with

England to secure their accustomed wool

supplies. To satisfy Flemish scruples against

warring upon their king, Edward III took

the title of king of France – a title which his

successors did not finally abandon until the

time of George III (1802). Previous wars

between England and France had been

feudal struggles between their kings, the

people taking little part. French

interference with English trade interests

now aroused the English Parliament to

enthusiastic support of the war. Edward’s

claim to the throne of France, on the other

hand, made the war a life-and-death

struggle on the part of the French

monarchy.

We may distinguish three distinct

periods of active warfare in this long

conflict. The first period lasted from its

outbreak, in 1337, to the peace of Bretigny,

in 1360. The second period began with the

renewal of hostilities in 1369, and lasted to

their decline following the death of the

French king, Charles V, in 1380. After a long

interval, filled with troubles in both

countries, the third period of the war began

with the invasion of France by Henry V in

1415, and lasted with some interruptions

until 1453.

The First Period of the War

(1337-1360)

The operations of the first few years

were carried on by Edward III in Flanders

and were without appreciable results. In

1340, however, Edward and his fleet met the

French fleet near Sluys, off the Flemish

coast. The incompetent French

commanders had huddled their vessels

together in a narrow inlet, where

maneuvering was impossible. The battle,

therefore, resembled a land conflict.

“Archers and crossbows began to shoot, and

men of arms approached and fought hand to

hand; and the better to come together they

had great hooks and grapplers of iron to cast

out of one ship into another, and so tied

them fast together.” The battle ended in

complete victory for the English.

Thenceforth, for a generation, they were

masters of the sea and could land their

expeditions where they wished.

In 1346 occurred the first important

battle of the war on land. An expedition

under Edward III advanced from

Normandy up the valley of the Seine, until

the flames of the villages set afire by the

English could be seen from the walls of

Crécy of Paris. Without attempting to attack

the capital, Edward turned northward to

join his forces with those of the Flemings,

while an enormous French army under King

Philip followed him. Seeing this, Edward

took up a position near the village of Crécy,

from which the battle takes its name.

The English forces consisted chiefly of

infantry armed with the longbow – the

excellence of which had been proved in the

wars of Edward I against the Welsh and

Scots. They were stationed in three

divisions, on the slope of a hill. The French

outnumbered the English five to one, but

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consisted chiefly of mounted men at arms,

with a body of hired Genoese crossbowmen.

The latter were first sent forward to the

attack. They were tired with a long day’s

march, and their crossbow strings were

perhaps slacked with a wetting received in a

passing thundershower. They were no

match for the English longbow men, and

when the shafts of the latter began to fall “so

thick that it seemed as if it snowed, the

Genoese broke and fled.” At this, Philip in

passion called out, “Slay these rascals, for

they trouble us without reason.”

“And ever still,” says the chronicler

Froissart, “the Englishmen went wherever

they saw thickest press. The sharp arrows

ran into the men of arms and into their

horses; and many fell, horse and men,

among the Genoese, and when they were

down they could not arise again, the press

was so thick that one overthrew another.”

A portion of the French finally managed

to reach the English knights, under the

Black Prince, son of Edward III, who were

on foot in the rear of the archers. In haste

messengers were sent to inform the King,

who, with the reserve, coolly watched the

battle from a windmill at the top of the hill.

“Return to them that sent you,” said

Edward, “and say to them that they are to

send no more to me as long as my son is

alive. And also say to them that they suffer

him this day to win his spurs.” And the

inevitable result was made the more

decisive by the utter lack of generalship on

the part of the French king.

After the battle, Edward continued his

retreat unmolested, and laid siege to Calais.

In spite of heroic resistance, the town was

obliged to surrender. Although Edward did

not, as he at first threatened, put to death

the leading townsmen, the whole

population was expelled and their places

taken by English settlers. Thenceforth, for

two hundred years Calais was an English

town and outpost of England’s power and

trade. Its possession, with that of Dover on

the other side of the Channel, went far to

confirm the claim of the English king to be

“lord of the narrow seas.”

After the fall of Calais, a truce was

arranged which lasted for several years. In

this interval, the exhaustion caused by the

war was intensified by a terrible pestilence,

called the “Black Death,” which resembled

the bubonic plague of today. Arising in Asia,

it reached Europe by way of Egypt and

Syria, appearing in Sicily, Tuscany, and

Provence in 1347. We now know that the

“plague” is carried by a certain kind of fleas,

which live on rats; and it is probable that the

fleas came in bundles of merchandise which

caravans brought to the eastern

Mediterranean, and which were distributed

thence through Europe. During the winter

months of 1347 the progress of the disease

was checked. Next summer it resumed its

march, spreading “from city to city, from

village to village, from house to house, from

man to man.” Germany and England

experienced its ravages in 1349 and 1350;

Norway and Russia, in 1351.

Everywhere the mortality was frightful.

During the four years that this plague

lasted, at least a third of the inhabitants of

Europe were carried off. In some of the

provinces of France, two-thirds of the

population perished. “It is impossible to

believe,” wrote a French monk of that time,

“the number who have died throughout the

whole country.” Travelers, merchants,

pilgrims, declare that they have found cattle

wandering without herdsmen in fields,

towns, and wastelands. They have seen

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barns and wine cellars standing wide open,

houses empty, and few people to be found

anywhere. In many towns where there were

before 20,000 people, scarcely 2,000 are

left. In many places the fields lie

uncultivated.” The dead were buried hastily,

great numbers at a time, in long ditches dug

in the fields, for the cemeteries were filled to

overflowing. The unsanitary arrangements

of the Middle Ages – the complete lack of

sewerage systems, the accumulations of

filth and decaying matter in streets and

houses, and the pollution of water supplies

– help to explain the great mortality. Where

conditions were better, as among the monks

of Christ Church, Canterbury, the mortality

was less. The Black Death was only the most

terrible of many plagues which visited

Europe in the Middle Ages, the recurrence

of which gradually ceased with advance in

cleanliness and sanitary science.

Citizens of Tournai burying plague victims

In France, the influence of the Black

Death was complicated by the injury

wrought by war and misgovernment. On the

reduced population, the heavy taxes fell

with double force. The peasants had to

contribute to pay ransoms for the

deliverance of their lords from captivity,

and for the redemption of their own goods

from destruction. They were forced by both

sides to labor without pay in carrying

supplies, and at siege operations. Often they

were tortured to extort money and

provisions, when they themselves lacked

bread for their families. To escape such

evils, peasants fled in large numbers to the

depths of the forests, only to die there of

famine and the attacks of wolves. Through

the joint operation of the plague and the

war, the rude prosperity which had

characterized the French people at the

beginning of the century was brought to an

end, and their condition became pitiable in

the extreme.

Philip VI died in 1350. His son John

(1350-1364) was a good knight, but without

capacity for government or generalship. In

1355 the Black Prince led an expedition into

southern France and the next year started to

march northward to Normandy. Near

Poitiers he was confronted by a French

army many times larger than his own. So

hopeless seemed the odds that he offered

(but in vain) to surrender his spoil and his

prisoners, and to bind himself not to fight

again for seven years, as the price of a free

retreat.

As at Crécy, the English force consisted

principally of archers, while the French

were mostly mounted and armored knights.

The English were stationed on a little

plateau protected by a hedge and by rough

and marshy ground. King John was

persuaded that the strength of the English

at Crécy had been due, not to their archers,

but to the fact that their men at arms were

dismounted. Accordingly, he ordered his

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knights to advance on foot, thus throwing

away his chief advantage. The first and

second divisions of his army failed to

accomplish anything.

Upon their retiring, the third division,

commanded by the King himself, was left to

bear the whole weight of the English

counter attack. “There was a sore fight,”

says Froissart, “and many a great stroke was

received. King John with his own hands did

that day marvels in arms; he had an ax in his

hands wherewith he defended himself and

fought in the breaking of the press.”

Refusing to flee, he and his youngest son

were taken captives by the English.

The whole number of prisoners was

twice that of their English captors. “That

day,” says Froissart, “whosoever took any

prisoner, he was clearly his, and he might

quit or ransom him at his pleasure. All such

as were there with the prince were made

rich with honor and goods, as well by

ransoming of prisoners as by winning of

gold, silver, plate, jewels, that were there

found.” After the battle the Black Prince

entertained the captive king, waiting upon

him in person at table. But for all this

chivalrous display, the English shrewdly

extracted full advantage from the victory.

Pending the acceptance of their terms, King

John was carried prisoner to London, where

for four years he was detained in honorable

captivity.

France meanwhile was in a deplorable

condition. The government was carried on

by the King’s eldest son, the Dauphin

Charles. Charles was an untried youth, and

demoralization pervaded every branch of

the government. In 1358 there was added to

other miseries a great uprising of the

peasants. They had suffered most from the

war and pestilence, and to their dulled

minds the disasters of Crécy and Poitiers

were explainable only on the theory that the

nobles had betrayed France. The revolt was

confined to a few provinces in northern

France, but it was characterized by the

utmost, ferocity. The peasants seemed

turned by their sufferings into wild beasts,

and the nobles retaliated in like manner.

The revolt was soon put down, and the lot of

the peasants, who was now dreaded as well

as despised, became worse than before.

A treaty with England was at last

concluded at Bretigny in 1360. The

following were its chief provisions:

John agreed to pay a large

money ransom.

He granted to Edward III full

sovereignty over Aquitaine,

Calais, and the district about

Crécy.

Edward III abandoned his

claim to the French crown.

All questions seemed settled, and the

war ended by this treaty. If Edward III

failed to win the French crown, he had

gained in Calais an important outpost

across the Channel, and had considerably

enlarged his territories in southern France.

Above all, he had thrown off his feudal

dependence on the French king for the

lands which he possessed in that kingdom.

He might well be content with the gains

shown by this period of the war.

Second Period of the War

(1369-1380)

Four years after the peace of Bretigny,

King John died at London, where he had

returned on a visit of mingled business and

pleasure. The new French king, Charles V

(1364-1380), as dauphin had gained much

experience. As king he became (1369)

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known as Charles “the Wise,” for he proved

one of the ablest rulers of France in the

Middle Ages. He was a shrewd, practical

statesman, who knew how to select good

generals, and fought no useless battles.

During the first five years of his reign peace

was kept with England, and the abuses in

the government were remedied.

Then in 1369 a dispute arose over

Aquitaine, which gave Charles an excuse for

repudiating the treaty of Bretigny and

reasserting French suzerainty over the

English possessions. Edward III thereupon

renewed the war and resumed his claim to

the French throne.

Charles V of France

Every advantage was now on the side of

France. England was tired of the contest,

Edward III was old and enfeebled (he died

in 1377), and the Black Prince was burdened

with a disease, which carried him off a year

before his father. The command of a sea was

also with the French – thanks to the fleet of

the King of Castile whom Charles had aided

against a rival who was supported by the

English. Finally, the French now had a first-

class general in the person of a Breton noble

named Bertrand du Guesclin who cast aside

the old knightly traditions of warfare, used

professional soldiers instead of the

disorderly feudal levies, and carried on a

cautious campaign of rapid maneuvers,

stratagems, and ambuscades designed to

wear out the enemy rather than attacking by

frontal assault.

As a result of these changed conditions,

place after place fell into the hands of the

French. The extent of the conquests made

by Charles V may be seen from the fact that

when a truce was made in 1375, Calais in the

north and Bordeaux and Bayonne in the

south were the only important strongholds

left in English hands.

This, however, proved the limit of

Charles’s success. He died in 1380. His son,

Charles VI (1380-1422), was a sickly boy

who became insane soon after he attained

manhood. His whole reign, therefore, was

filled with contests of French princes for

control of the government. These reached

their height in 1407, when the King’s cousin,

the surly Duke of Burgundy, caused the

murder of the Duke of Orléans, brother of

the King and leader of the opposing faction.

Civil war then broke out between the rival

parties Burgundians or Orléanists.

Fortunately for France, this was also for

England a time of peasant revolt and party

struggles. For a full generation, therefore,

the war languished.

Third Period of the War

(1415-1453)

The renewal of the war came soon after

Henry V, the hero king of England,

succeeded to the English throne (1413). The

title of his house to rule was disputed, and

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his father’s reign had been distracted by

many troubles growing out of this fact.

Henry V resolved, therefore, to “busy giddy

minds with foreign quarrels” (as the poet

Shakespeare phrases it) and raised again

the English claims to the French throne.

In 1415 Henry led an army into

Normandy, whence he marched northward

toward Calais. At Agincourt, near Crécy, his

way was blocked by a great French army,

composed mainly of Orléanists, who at that

moment were in control of the French

government. The French seemed to have

learned wisdom neither from the disasters

of King John nor from the successes of

Charles V. Again their forces were chiefly

dismounted knights, weighted down with

their heavy armor. They were packed so

close in a narrow defile between two woods

that they scarcely had room to wield their

swords. To make matters worse, the field

was newly harrowed and deep with mud, in

which the armored Frenchmen became

bogged down. English victory was not

difficult. Well might King Henry have said

the night before the battle, that he “wished

not for a single man more” to share the

glory. A third English victory, equal to those

won at Crécy and Poitiers, was the result.

Instead of uniting French parties, the

disaster at Agincourt only made the feuds of

the princes more bitter. In 1419, at a

conference between the Dauphin Charles

(now head of Troyes of the Orléanist party)

and the Duke of Burgundy, the latter was

treacherously slain by the Orléanists, in

revenge for the murder of their leader

twelve years before. The new Duke of

Burgundy, as a consequence, put himself

unreservedly on the English side. In 1420 a

treaty was signed at Troyes by the

shameless French queen, Isabella, who was

under Burgundy’s influence. It contained

the following provisions: –

The Dauphin Charles was

disinherited because of his

part in the murder of the late

Duke of Burgundy.

Henry V was to marry

Catherine, the daughter of

Isabella and Charles VI.

Henry was at once to become

regent, and his title to the

throne of France was to be

recognized after the death of

Charles VI.

The Dauphin naturally refused to accept

this outrageous treaty. Southern France

remained loyal to him, but the north

(including the capital) passed into English

hands. Henry V’s rule in France was short,

as he died in 1422. Seven weeks later the

pathetic life of Charles VI also came to an

end. The heir to both England and France,

by the treaty of Troyes, was a babe less than

a year old – Henry VI, the son of Henry V

and Catherine. Such sentiment of

nationality as existed in France supported

the claims of the dauphin, now called

Charles VII (1422-1461). But his resources

were slender, and his court was distracted

by the quarrels of his adherents. During the

first seven years of his reign, little progress

was made in driving the English from the

realm.

In 1429 a new factor entered the struggle

in the person of Joan of Arc. Joan was an

uneducated peasant maid of northeastern

France. She was of a religious temperament,

and it was reported that after reaching the

age of fourteen she began to hear “voices”

and see visions of saints and angels, in

which she firmly believed. She was much

affected by the troubles of her time. At the

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age of seventeen her “voices” urged her to go

to the Dauphin, lead him to Rheims to be

crowned, and deliver France. With much

difficulty she reached the King’s court, in

male attire. There she so impressed Charles

that he gave her an opportunity to show the

reality of her powers.

The city of Orléans at this time was

besieged by the English; if it fell, it would

carry with it the ruin of the French cause.

Equipped with armor and a holy banner,

Joan set out with a small force, and entered

Orléans in April 1429. Under the inspiration

of her courage, faith, and enthusiasm, blow

after blow was struck against the English,

and within ten days the siege of Orléans was

raised. The French seemed suddenly to have

become invincible. Success followed

success, and in July the Maid of Orléans, as

she was now called, was able to lead Charles

across a hostile country to Rheims, for

coronation at the place where his ancestors

had been crowned. Thus, Joan’s chief

mission was accomplished.

After this, Charles VII was received by

the French people with enthusiasm. But the

successes won by Joan aroused the jealousy

of Charles’s advisors, and they did all they

could to thwart her further plans. In

September she was wounded while leading

an attack on Paris. In May of the next year

she was taken prisoner by the Burgundians,

and eventually sold to the English. The

latter wished to break the spell of her deeds

by proving her a witch, that is, a person in

league with the devil. She was accused of

sorcery and heresy, and was tried before a

bishop who was an English partisan. Her

condemnation was a foregone conclusion.

At Rouen, in May, 1431 – wearing the cap of

those condemned by the Inquisition, on

which were painted devils and flames, with

the words, “Relapsed heretic, apostate, and

idolater” – she was burned at the stake.

The nobility and purity of her character

were such as to impress even her enemies.

“We are lost; we have burned a saint!” were

the words of an Englishman who witnessed

her execution. The greatest blot on the fame

of Charles VII is the ingratitude he showed

in making no effort to rescue from death the

brave girl who, more than anyone else,

saved for him the throne of France.

The influence of Joan survived her in the

energy with which the war was continued.

Four years after her death, Philip of

Burgundy abandoned the English cause, on

condition that he be given certain lands and

be freed from all homage to Charles VII

during his lifetime. France was thus once

more united. A series of reforms also gave to

the crown a standing army, a force of

improved artillery – for cannon were

becoming effective – and a permanent

revenue. While the French government was

thus strengthened, England was weakened

by the insanity of King Henry VI, and the

growth of dissensions among the English

princes. In these circumstances, the

expulsion of the English from France was

only a question of time. Paris soon

surrendered to one of Charles’s generals;

presently Normandy and the greater part of

Aquitaine were conquered; and finally, in

1453, Bordeaux fell. Only Calais remained

in English hands, to be kept for a century

longer. The Hundred Years’ War, with its

enormous injury, both material and moral,

to both parties, came quietly to an end

without a formal treaty of peace.

Instead of winning for the English crown

the whole of France, the Hundred Years’

War lost for it possessions which had been

held by English kings since the accession of

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Henry II (1154). For France the struggle had

these results: (1) The French king was

delivered from the anomaly of having a rival

king among his vassals. (2) The power of the

crown was consolidated into almost

absolute monarchy. (3) A national

sentiment was born, which ultimately led to

the complete nationality of today.

But against these gains must be

balanced fearful losses inflicted upon land

and people, the check population, and the

brutalization of long-continued and

unrestrained warfare.

L e s s o n T w o


Joan of Arc

JOAN OF ARC is one of the most fascinating people in history. She grew up in a small town in France and was greatly distressed by the condition of her country. After saying she had received a vision from God, she felt it her duty to fight the English and to restore her country to independence. She became a great warrior and served as a very influential and motivational figure for the troops of France to rally behind. This lesson will cover the life and personhood of Joan of Arc.

Joan of Arc depicted on horseback in an illustration from a 1505 manuscript

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Read the article: Joan of Arc.

Write a two-page biographical report on the life of Joan of Arc, incorporating ways that this unit’s third Leading Idea is seen in her life.

Be sure to visit www.ArtiosHCS.com for additional resources, websites, and videos.


Joan of Arc


Famous Men of the Middle Ages by John Henry Haaren

Joan of Arc

During the long wars between the

French and English, not even the Black

Prince or King Henry V gained such fame as

did a young French peasant girl named Joan

of Arc.

She was born in the little village of

Domrémy. Her father had often told her of

the sad condition of France – how the

country was largely in the possession of

England, and how the French king did not

dare to be crowned.

And so the thought came to be ever in

her mind, “How I pity my country!” She

brooded over the matter so much that by

and by she said that she had visions of

angels and heard strange voices, which said

to her, “Joan, you can deliver the land from

the English. Go to the relief of King

Charles.”

At last these strange visions and voices

made the young girl believe that she had a

mission from God, and she determined to

try to save France.

When she told her father and mother of

her purpose, they tried to persuade her that

the visions of angels and the voices telling

her of the divine mission were but dreams.

“I tell thee, Joan,” said her father, “it is thy

fancy. Thou hadst better have a kind

husband to take care of thee, and do some

work to employ thy mind.”

Joan of Arc Listening to the Voice,

by Eugène Thirion

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“Father, I must do what God has willed,

for this is no work of my choosing,” she

replied. “Mother, I would far rather sit and

spin by your side than take part in war. My

mission is no dream. I know that I have

been chosen by the Lord to fulfill His

purpose, and nothing can prevent me from

going where He purposes to send me.”

The village priest, her young

companions, even the governor of the town,

all tried to stop her, but it was in vain.

To the governor she said, “I must do the

work my Lord has laid out for me.”

Little by little people began to believe in

her mission. At last all stopped trying to

discourage her, and some who were wealthy

helped her to make the journey to the town

of Chinon, where the French king, Charles

the Seventh, was living.

Orléans

When Joan arrived at Chinon, a force of

French soldiers was preparing to go to the

south of France to relieve the city of Orléans

which the English were besieging.

King Charles received Joan kindly and

listened to what she had to say with deep

attention. The girl spoke modestly, but with

a calm belief that she was right.

“Gracious King,” she said, “my name is

Joan. God has sent me to deliver France

from her enemies. You shall shortly be

crowned in the cathedral of Rheims. I am to

lead the soldiers you are about to send for

the relief of Orléans. So God has directed

and under my guidance victory will be

theirs.”

The King and his nobles talked the

matter over, and finally it was decided to

allow Joan to lead an army of about five

thousand men against the English at

Orléans.

When she left Chinon at the head of her

soldiers, in April 1429, she was in her

eighteenth year. Mounted on a fine war-

horse and clad in white armor from head to

foot, she rode along past the cheering

multitude, “seeming rather,” it has been

said, “of heaven than earth.” In one hand

she carried an ancient sword that she had

found near the tomb of a saint, and in the

other a white banner embroidered with

lilies.

The rough soldiers who were near her

left off their oaths and coarse manners, and

carefully guarded her. She inspired the

whole army with courage and faith as she

talked about her visions.

When she arrived at the besieged city of

Orléans, she fearlessly rode round its walls,

while the English soldiers looked on in

astonishment. She was able to enter

Orléans, despite the efforts of the besiegers

to prevent her.

She aroused the city by her cheerful,

confident words and then led her soldiers

forth to give battle to the English. Their

success was amazing. One after another the

English forts were taken.

When only the strongest remained and

Joan was leading the attacking force, she

received a slight wound and was carried out

of the battle to be attended by a surgeon.

Her soldiers began to retreat. “Wait,” she

commanded, “eat and drink and rest; for as

soon as I recover I will touch the walls with

my banner and you shall enter the fort.” In

a few minutes she mounted her horse again

and riding rapidly up to the fort, touched it

with her banner. Her soldiers almost

instantly were victorious. The very next day

the enemy’s troops were forced to withdraw

from before the city, and the siege was at

end.

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The French soldiers were jubilant at the

victory and called Joan the “Maid of

Orléans.” By this name she is known in

history. Her fame spread everywhere, and

the English as well as the French thought

she had more than human power.

She led the French in several other

battles, and again and again her troops were

victorious.

At last the English were driven far to the

north of France. Then Charles, urged by

Joan, went to Rheims with twelve thousand

soldiers, and there, with splendid

ceremonies, was crowned king. Joan

holding her white banner, stood near

Charles during the coronation.

Joan of Arc at the Coronation of Charles VII,

by Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres

When the ceremony was finished, she

knelt at his feet and said, “O King, the will of

God is done and my mission is over! Let me

now go home to my parents.”

But the King urged her to stay a while

longer, as France was not entirely freed

from the English. Joan consented, but she

said, “I hear the heavenly voices no more

and I am afraid.”

However, she took part in an attack

upon the army of the Duke of Burgundy, but

was taken prisoner by him. For a large sum

of money, the duke delivered her into the

hands of the English, who put her in prison

in Rouen. She lay in prison for a year, and

finally was charged with sorcery and

brought to trial. It was said that she was

under the influence of the Evil One. She

declared to her judges her innocence of the

charge and said, “God has always been my

guide in all that I have done. The devil has

never had power over me.”

Her trial was long and tiresome. At its

close she was doomed to be burned at the

stake.

So in the market place at Rouen the

English soldiers fastened her to a stake

surrounded by a great pile of wood.

A soldier put into her hands a rough

cross, which he had made from a stick that

he held. She thanked him and pressed it to

her bosom. Then a good priest, standing

near the stake, read to her the prayers for

the dying, and another mounted the wood

and held toward her a crucifix, which she

clasped with both hands and kissed. When

the cruel flames burst out around her, the

noble girl uttered the word “Jesus,” and

expired.

A statue of her now stands on the spot

where she suffered.

Among all the men of her time, none did

nobler work than Joan. And hence it is that

we put the story of her life among the stories

of the lives of the great men of the Middle

Ages, although she was only a simple

peasant girl.

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L e s s o n T h r e e


France and England After the Hundred Years’ War

“The close of the Hundred Years’ War was followed in England by the Wars of the Roses . . . Each party was supported by a group of wealthy and powerful nobles whose conspiracies, treasons, murders, and executions fill the annals of England during this disturbed period of her history.

“In France the closing years of the Hundred Years’ War witnessed a great increase of the king’s power through the establishment of a well-organized standing army.”

– James Harvey Robinson

The Lancastrian siege of London in 1471 is attacked by a Yorkist sally.


Review the discussion questions and vocabulary, then read the article: England and France After the Hundred Years’ War.

Narrate about today’s reading using the appropriate notebook page. Be sure to answer the discussion questions and include key people, events, and dates within the narration.

Define each vocabulary word in the context of the reading and put the word and its definition in the vocabulary section of your history notebook.

Be sure to visit www.ArtiosHCS.com for additional resources.

Page 276


Key People , Places , and

Events

Wars of Roses Edward II Louis XI

Vocabulary

despotic

Discussion Questions

1. What were the results of the Wars of Roses?

2. Why did the Estates General fail to become as powerful as the English Parliament?

3. How did England and France begin to establish strong national governments?


A General History of Europe by James Harvey Robinson

England and France After the Hundred Years’ War

The Wars of the Roses

The close of the Hundred Years’ War was

followed in England by the Wars of the

Roses, between the rival families Lancaster

and York (both descended from

Edward III), which engaged in a great

struggle for the crown after Henry V died,

leaving an infant son. The badge of the

house of Lancaster (Henry’s family) was a

red rose, and that of York (the challenging

family) was a white one. Each party was

supported by a group of wealthy and

powerful nobles whose conspiracies,

treasons, murders, and executions fill the

annals of England during this disturbed

period of her history.

Henry VII and the Power

of the Tudor Kings

The Wars of the Roses were brought to

an end when Henry VII, a descendant of

Edward III on his mother’s side, came to the

throne in 1485. He was the first of the house

of Tudor, from which he and his successors

get their name, Tudors. A great part of the

nobility, whom the kings had formerly

feared, had perished in war or been

executed by their enemies. This left the

monarch far more powerful than ever

before. Henry managed to control

Parliament; and for a century or more after

Henry VII’s accession, the Tudor kings

exercised an almost despotic power.

England ceased for a time to enjoy the free

government for which the foundations had

been laid under the Edwards.

The French Estates General

The French had organized a parliament,

called the Estates General, about the time

that the English Parliament was growing

up. It contained representatives of the

towns as well as those of the clergy and

nobility. It met from time to time during the

Hundred Years’ War, but was never able to

force the King to admit that he had no right

to levy taxes without consulting the Estates

General.

Page 277


France Establishes a

Standing Army (1349)

In France the closing years of the

Hundred Years’ War witnessed a great

increase of the King’s power through the

establishment of a well-organized standing

army. The feudal army had long since

disappeared. Even before the opening of the

war, the nobles had begun to be paid for

their military services and no longer

furnished troops as a condition of holding

fiefs. But the companies of soldiers found

their pay very uncertain and plundered

their countrymen as well as the enemy.

The Estates agreed in 1439 that the King

should use a certain tax, called the “taille,”

to support the troops necessary for the

protection of the frontier. This was a fatal

concession, for the King now had an army

and the right to collect what he chose to

consider a permanent tax, the amount of

which he later greatly increased; he was not

dependent, as was the English king, upon

the grants made for brief periods by the

representatives of the nation assembled in

Parliament.

How Louis XI Strengthened

the King’s Power in France

Before the King of France could

establish a compact, well-organized state, it

was necessary for him to reduce the power

of the nobles. They had already been

forbidden to coin money, maintain armies

of their own, or tax their subjects, but some

of them still were in a position to threaten

the King at the close of the Hundred Years’

War. The task of further reducing their

power fell to Louis XI (1461-1483), a shrewd

but unscrupulous monarch. Some of his

vassals, especially the dukes of Burgundy,

gave him a great deal of trouble. While the

English nobles were killing one another in

the Wars of the Roses, Louis managed to get

a number of hitherto half-independent

provinces of France – such as Anjou, Maine,

Provence, etc. – under his immediate

control. He humiliated in various ways the

vassals who had ventured in his early days

to join against him. Louis was an efficient

monarch in building up a strong

government, but it sometimes seemed as if

he were gloried in being the most rascally

among rascals and the most treacherous

among traitors.

England and France Establish

Strong National Governments

Both England and France emerged from

the troubles and desolations of the Hundred

Years’ War stronger than ever before. In

both countries the kings had overcome the

old menace of feudalism by destroying the

influence of the great families. The King’s

government was becoming constantly more

powerful. Commerce and industry

increased the people’s wealth and supplied

the monarchs with the revenue necessary to

maintain government officials and a

sufficient army to keep order throughout

their realms. They were no longer forced to

rely upon the uncertain fidelity of their

vassals. In short, England and France were

both becoming modern states.

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T h e A r t i o s H o m e C o m p a n i o n S e r i e s Unit 17: The Hundred Years War · 2020. 7....

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